COLUMN: Tea Party shouldn’t be demonized for wanting honest, lower cost government

Thursday

Aug 22, 2013 at 12:01 AMAug 22, 2013 at 7:42 PM

Howard Russ

How could a cohesive group, or an individual, be induced to abandon an endeavor that they strongly believe in and are willing to work for? In my opinion, one way would be to convince them that their intentions are ill conceived, or simply wrong. Another would be to convince them that even if they are right in principle, success would not be worth the effort.

Another method, perhaps more often used effectively, would be through outright intimidation or other coercive methods, such as coordinated defaming narratives that frame them as being so far out on the fringes of societal norms that they, and their supporters, will be cowered into submission and abandon their cause through fear or self-doubt. For those interested in maintaining the status quo, such as the comforts of a government that serves itself rather than its citizens, I suspect these tools are kept within easy reach and get little rest.

In my opinion, Tom Campbell’s syndicated column, “Do mainstream Republicans have the courage to take back their party?” in the August 19th Gazette did a masterful job of illustrating how the process works in his treatment of the Tea Party that, so he says, has become such a threat to the mainstream Republican Party and the majority of North Carolinians who, in his view, don’t agree with the Tea Party’s philosophy.

In my opinion, if one is only exposed to, or only absorbs, the type of propaganda in Mr. Campbell’s column, or similar drivel so abundant in the “mainstream media,” they would probably view the Tea Party as a mob of wild-eyed anarchist bent on wreaking havoc and bringing down the entire U.S. Government. In case anyone wonders, I am not a Tea Party member; I just don’t thing they should be demonized for wanting a more honest, lower-cost government.

I don’t know what political philosophy Mr. Campbell embraces. He could be part of the Republican hierarchy that considers the Tea Party a stone in its shoe, or Mr. Campbell could be an activist in the Democratic Party. He does use a lot of buzzwords found in their orchestrated narratives.

Or he could just be one of the “good Democrats” only interested in saving the Republican Party from voter abandonment and irrelevance if they don’t ostracize the Tea Party that won’t “compromise” and won’t listen to more “thoughtful” explanations (spin) of why the mainstream Republicans are so weak-kneed and reluctant to take a firm stand on so many issues. The Democrats do claim to be the party that cares.

Whatever the impetus of Mr. Campbell’s obvious political agenda, it seems, to me, to coincide with the objectives of the higher echelons in both major political parties; in my opinion, the chosen ones breathing that rarified air are less interested in what is best for American than capturing, or holding on to, the reins of power.

A virtual avalanche of “good advice” such as Mr. Campbell’s is aimed not just at the North Carolina Republican Party, who Mr. Campbell says needs to “stand up” to the “extreme hardline element” (Tea Party) intent on reforming state government, the anti-illegal amnesty wing of the National Republican Party that wants to enforce current immigration laws before considering rewarding law-breakers is also a target of the propaganda wars designed to determine the outcome of the related political debates soon to heat up in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Although, it seems to me, that left-wing propaganda is usually more effective than the right-wing’s, I think the outcome could still depend on how interested the voting public is concerning their favored issues.

What if the majority of Republican, and/or Independent voters prefer that their favored political party not be intimidated by threats that their influence will become nil if they don’t go along to get along, or that the Hispanic voters will abandon them if they don’t listen to the deafening din demanding amnesty? Would that win elections and build a better America? If voters would bypass the spin and look at reality, and if politicians would listen, it might.

Or, to court disaster, what if that same majority rather have the kind of political party representing them that goes along to get along, and has scant respect for the rule of law? Well, if that happens, I don’t think it will matter which party controls the country.

My suspicion is that the combination of Obamacare and legalizing millions of illegal aliens, an action that I think will further diminish political will to control our borders, and will guarantee more disrespect for the rule of law, coupled with the possible collapse of our economy—barring effective political will to reduce the size of government and rebuild our industrial base — could eventually award America with Third World status that projects our national image not as a proud eagle that once soared to the moon, but with that of a sick chicken pecking for crumbs in the barnyard.